State Attorney General Orders Trump Foundation to Cease Raising Money in New York

The office of the New York attorney general, Eric T. Schneiderman, has issued a “notice of violation” to Donald J. Trump’s foundation, ordering it to immediately stop soliciting charitable donations in the state.

The letter, which was sent on Friday and released on Monday morning by Mr. Schneiderman’s office, said its charities bureau had determined that the Donald J. Trump Foundation had been fund-raising in New York this year when it was not registered to do so under state law.

“The Trump Foundation must immediately cease soliciting contributions or engaging in any other fund-raising activities in New York,” wrote James Sheehan, the chief of the charities bureau.

“While we remain very concerned about the political motives behind A. G. Schneiderman’s investigation, the Trump Foundation nevertheless intends to cooperate fully with the investigation,” Hope Hicks, Mr. Trump’s spokeswoman, said in a statement on Monday. “Because this is an ongoing legal matter, the Trump Foundation will not comment further at this time.”

Mr. Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, has previously deflected criticism about his charitable giving, saying that he makes contributions personally and that he has been supportive of his foundation.

Mr. Schneiderman’s office is investigating Mr. Trump’s foundation to determine if it is in compliance with state laws, including how it spends its money and courts donations. The attorney general’s office was particularly interested in a fund-raiser held by Mr. Trump this year to benefit veterans in lieu of attending a Republican primary debate. The event raised $5.6 million, including some money from wealthy donors, and the Trump Foundation said $1.67 million had come from online donations. The foundation did not break down the sources by state.

Over the years, Mr. Trump has donated $5.4 million to his charity, according to the organization’s tax filings. But the last of those contributions was in 2008, and in recent years, the foundation’s coffers have been filled by outside donors — including organizations and people in New York. (The foundation’s most recently available filing was for 2014.)

From 2009 to 2014, the foundation raised $4.36 million, with $2.5 million from New Yorkers, records show. State rules require nonprofits raising more than $25,000 a year in New York to register and file audited financial statements and annual financial reports to the attorney general’s charities bureau.

In the letter, Mr. Schneiderman’s office provided notice to Mr. Trump’s foundation that it must provide those financial documents within 15 days. It also must file any “delinquent reports” for past years within that time frame.

“The failure immediately to discontinue solicitation and to file information and reports” with the charities bureau, Mr. Sheehan said, “shall be deemed a fraud upon the people of the state of New York.”

Mr. Schneiderman, a Democrat and a supporter of Mr. Trump’s Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, has also asserted in a separate pending case that Mr. Trump defrauded students who participated in Trump University, his for-profit educational program.